


In the Gathering Night

by ASongforWolves



Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan)
Genre: Abusive Parents, Angst, Assassin - Freeform, Blood Loss, Blood and Injury, F/M, Graphic Injury, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Injury Recovery, Minor Character Death, Past Child Abuse, Serious Injuries, Slow Burn, Takes place just after Batman Begins, coughing up blood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:54:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24952645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ASongforWolves/pseuds/ASongforWolves
Summary: Kestrel was trained as an assassin from the time she was fourteen.When she gets injured on an assignment, she knows that no one is going to help her. In a strange twist of fate, she meets the infamous Bat of Gotham.
Relationships: Bruce Wayne/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Graphic violence in this chapter, and a lot of blood.
> 
> So, I've been awol for awhile. Just really busy.

The impact of the boot to her side knocked the wind out of her, leaving her lungs burning. Kestrel coughed, inhaling weakly, and rolled out of the way of a second kick.

She got to her feel, launching at her much bigger opponent, baring her teeth in a grimace of determination.

Kestrel collided with the man, knocking them both to the ground.

She struck at his face, and reached for the gun he had dropped.

A violent impact to her ribs startled her, and Kestrel looked down...

...as the man's concealed knife lodged between her ribs.

Time seemed to slow down, and Kestrel watched, oddly detached as the knife ripped free, only to plunge back into her side, just inches from the first wound.

Pain exploded through her abdomen, and Kestrel howled in pain.

The man flung her off, and she yelped as her back collided with the brick wall of the building.

The young woman crumpled to the cracked cement of the ally, breathing ragged and shallow.

A glint of metal caught her eye, and Kestrel extended her hand towards the gun, fingers curling around the hilt as her opponent grabbed her by the hair.

Adrenaline gave her strength, and she thrashed, her heel catching the man in the groin. He released her with a shout.

Kestrel rolled onto her back, and squeezed the trigger.

Blood sprayed from the wound, splattering her face.

She heard the _thud_ as the man's body hit the ground.

All at once, her strength left her. Kestrel's breathing came in a wet rasp, and she tasted blood.

As she groaned in dismay, she realized that she was not alone.

"Oh _joy._ " She muttered, somehow still finding the time to be snippy.

As the figure approached, Kestrel realized that he was no ordinary person.

The Bat of Gotham stood over her.

Kestrel opened her mouth to say something snarky, only to choke on the blood in her throat. In that moment, she forgot all about her mysterious audience, her attention wholly focused on breathing again.

Bleeding out was not so bad, she'd be unconscious before she died. But _drowning in her own blood?_ That was not, in Kestrel's opinion, a good way to go. 

She began to cough, sides heaving in an effort to draw breath between each painful spasm, blood splattering from her mouth each time.

As the fit subsided, Kestrel remembered the Bat.

Giving up on the hope of retaining any semblance of dignity, she wheezed out. "Don't you... have better things t-to do than watching me d-die?"

Batman looked into the dark grey eyes of the injured woman.

During the coughing fit, he'd been afraid to touch her, and potentially cause more harm. Now that she seemed as calm as good be expected, he crouched beside her.

"I am going to lift you, it will hurt. Try not to scream." That was the only warning he gave her.

"Wha-?" She cut off with a hiss of pain.

"Stay with me." He told her, as he carried her to the Tumbler.

She muttered something in reply.

"Don't try to speak."

She sighed, but remained silent.

They were almost the the Bat Cave when her eyes began to close.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kestrel starts to recover from her wounds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LIVE! I've just been really busy lately.

She looked dead.

That was all that Batman could think as he laid her down on a cot. She was deathly pale, bleeding from her mouth and nose, and barely breathing at all.

After a brief moment of debate, he called for Alfred, before carefully cutting the woman’s bloodsoaked shirt off, revealing the two stab wounds. As Batman carefully brushed his fingers over the injuries, the girl made a sound, a thin whine not unlike that of a wounded dog.

“Who is she, Master Wayne?” Alfred asked. Batman turned to look at his butler. 

“I don’t know. She strikes me as a trained assassin, she knows how to fight.” He frowned. “I need you to call Lucius, the blade got her in the lung, and that’s not something I can fix alone.”

Dying wasn’t as bad as she’d thought it would be. All the pain was gone, and Kestrel felt as if she was wrapped in a warm, tranquil darkness.

Any moment now, her body would give up, and she would slide into that darkness forever. She wasn’t scared anymore. She’d accepted her fate.

...Or rather, what she had thought was her fate.

She heard a distant, muffled voice. Curiosity caused her to stir slightly, straining to make out the words.

“I won’t give up if you don’t.” A man’s voice said.

_ Is he talking to me? _ Kestrel wondered vaguely. She couldn’t seem to focus.

She felt at crossroads, even now, she understood how close she was to death. But the voice seemed to be calling her back, offering her a choice.

But she was so tired. 

“We’re losing her.” Another voice said.

The first voice cursed, but then spoke again. “Come on, Come on, wake up.”

In that moment, Kestrel realized that she truly wanted to live. She struggled against the darkness. 

And opened her eyes.

Bruce sighed in relief as the woman’s dark grey eyes flickered open. She grimaced, and squinted against the bright light.

“Welcome back.” Lucius said from beside him. The girl looked puzzled.

“Back from where?” She asked, her voice hoarse, but the fact that she was speaking was a very good sign.

“You almost died.” Batman told her.

“I know.” She replied, then paused. “Oh, you meant welcome back to the land of the living?” 

“Something like that.” Batman agreed. “Do you remember what happened?”

“I was on assignment. It went wrong, and I got stabbed.” She said. “Then…” Her eyes fixed on Batman. “You saved me.”

He only nodded.

“How long has it been?”

“Almost three days.”  _ You started to give up a few moments ago, but it seems you changed your mind. _ He thought to himself. “What’s your name?”

“Kestrel.”

“Kestrel?”

“Like the bird. The sparrow hawk.”

“I know what a kestrel is.” Batman assured her. “Last name?”

“I don’t have one. I’m just called Kestrel.”

_ No last name. Assassin training.  _ She was probably an orphan, someone who was picked up as a child and trained to kill for her handlers.

“You’re an assassin, are you not?”

“Yes, I was chosen.”

“Chosen?”

“As a child. I was chosen to become an elite assassin.”

“By whom? Who do you work for?”

“No one, not anymore. I’m dead to them now. I failed to get out intact.” She paused, and shifted so she was lying on her uninjured side, facing Batman and Lucius.

“I’m telling you this because I owe it to you, for saving my life.” She told him. “The group who raised me was a branch of something called the League of Shadows.”

Batman went cold at the mention of the League. “How old were you?” He asked, his voice suddenly as hoarse as hers.

“When I began my training, I was fourteen.” She answered, without even a bit of hesitance. 

Though he still wore his mask, she must have read the look in his eyes.

“You can’t stop them.” She said it softly, but by the tone of her voice, she wasn’t saying it out of loyalty or arrogance, but defeat. 

_ I wish you could.  _ Kestrel thought. In truth, when the man had stabbed her, part of her had been relieved, that it could finally be over.

She’d grown up with other orphans like her, trained in hand to hand combat since she was a child… trained to kill since the age of fourteen.

She held no loyalty for her masters, they had taken her, an innocent child, and twisted her into their weapon. 

But there was no escape from the League, unless you were killed or injured on a mission.

They wouldn’t bother to send anyone to kill her, Kestrel knew, because they weren’t worried she would talk. They’d all been trained to hold up under torture.

But Kestrel was sick of the lies, so she’d told the truth of her own free will, something that no one in the League would ever consider being a problem.

_ We’re supposed to be their loyal hounds. _ She thought resentfully.  _ But if you push too hard, a beaten dog will turn on its masters. _

_ And it seems that today, I’m that dog. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave me a comment! They always inspire me to keep writing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we learn a lot more about Kestrel in this chapter

It wasn’t the first time she’d been stabbed.  _ Probably won’t be the last.  _ Kestrel thought with a snort. But hell, she hated sitting around waiting for the injuries to heal.

She was bored, and maybe, if she’d known how, she would have been lonely.

_ You can’t miss what you never had. I’ve always been alone. _ Kestrel thought sullenly.  _ From my earliest memory, it was me against the world. _

They weren’t allowed to make friends in the League. Only allies. Dahlia and Jackson had been the closest thing she’d had to friends.

She’d slept with Jackson a few times, she was sure Dahlia had too, but there had never been any feelings involved. It was quick, a way to relieve tension and frustration.

They’d all gone to different handlers when they turned twenty, and she hadn’t seen either of them since.

At first, she’d kind of missed them, in the sense that she’d lost a certain familiarity in her life. She’d gotten over it quickly, and finished the trials to become an Elite.

“Who was the man that you killed in that alley?” The gruff voice surprised her, and she whipped around, jumping to her feet and instinctively reaching for the knife she had once worn at her waist.

The Bat stood, watching her impassively.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to sneak up on people who’ve been trained to kill?” Kestrel asked. 

“Force of Habit.” The Bat replied. “Who was he?”

“He was another member of the League. He disobeyed his handler, killed more people than necessary. So I was sent to put an end to it.”

She said it so casually. 

That was the first thing Bruce noticed, the utter lack of emotion that this girl displayed about killing another assassin.

Kestrel frowned. “That bothers you?” She asked.

Bruce did not answer.

“It’s how I was raised.” She went on, lifting a shoulder in a shrug. Her smoke grey eyes were unreadable.

“How did you get your name?” Bruce asked, changing the subject.

“I chose the name. I used to be called E-17.”

“E-17?”

“Elite number 17.” She shrugged. When I was fourteen, when they started to really train us, we were allowed to pick our own names.”

“Why Kestrel?”

“There was a kestrel that nested outside the training area one year. I always liked the bird, don’t know why, but I did. Also… I wished I could fly.” She said the last part sheepishly.

“Where are they?”

“They move regularly now. Ever since the main base was destroyed by one of the students. I never did find out who it was.” Kestrel shrugged. “I wish it had been me.”

_ Perhaps one day, I’ll tell you it was me. _ Bruce thought.

“Will you tell me who you really are?” Kestrel asked.

“It’s a secret for a reason.” Bruce told her, though he had already realized that he would have to tell her soon. He couldn’t just leave her in the Bat Cave indefinitely.

“Who would I tell?” Kestrel asked, and Bruce nodded.

“Wait here.” He told her, and went to remove the Batsuit.

When he returned, she was sitting right where he’d left her, waiting expectantly.

“When I said to wait here, I didn’t mean you have to stay in that exact spot.” Bruce told her.

“Force of habit.” She echoed his earlier words. “So, Bruce Wayne is the Bat of Gotham.” She noted it calmly.

“You’re not surprised?”

She barked a laugh. “I’m a trained assassin, do you know how many different identities I have?”

“Fair enough.” Bruce told her. “Come with me.” 

She said nothing as she followed him up into the Manor, but Bruce noted the awestruck look in her eyes.

“This is a  _ house? _ ” Kestrel breathed, allowing wonder to creep into her voice. After all, she’d lived in a facility. Her ‘place’ was a single room, with a bed, and nothing else.

“Damn.” She muttered. “I’ve missed out.”

“This is Alfred Pennyworth, the Butler, among other things.” The Bat, or Bruce Wayne, told her, gesturing to an older man with an air of dignity about him.

“A pleasure… Kestrel, is it not?”

“Yes.” Kestrel said, awkwardly taking the offered hand, and shaking it.

The rest of the ‘tour’ as Bruce called it, had gone quickly, and the guest room that Kestrel had been given was big enough to fit her old room inside it three times.

It had a bed. A television -Kestrel had only ever seen anything on television in a bar, on assignment- a radio, a couch, and an ‘en suite’ bathroom.

The bed- if it could be called a bed. It looked more like a soft helicopter landing pad- was made with silk sheets, and fancy pillows.

Kestrel climbed into the bed, surprised at how soft it was, and grabbed the remote for the television.

Bruce had showed her how to use it.

She surfed through the channels, and discovered that she rather liked murder mysteries.

  
  


Three weeks later

Bruce was getting tired of his copycat’s. They just made his job harder, gave him more things to worry about.

And, he was really starting to  _ hate _ Jonathan Crane.

That was all he could think as he dodged a punch from one of the Scarecrow’s goons. 

His opponent cried out suddenly, and Bruce saw that a knife was lodged in the back of the man’s legs. The figure that backflipped down was wearing a ski mask, but Bruce knew it was Kestrel.

Only someone who was trained in the League of Shadows could have such skills.

For a moment, Bruce just watched her move. She was unbelievably agile, even with her half-healed injuries, and still surprisingly strong.

Bruce snapped himself out of it, punching his opponent, and knocking him to the ground. From behind him, Bruce heard the unmistakable sound of a bone breaking, someone screaming.

After he tied up his opponent, he turned and saw Kestrel facing Crane.

The corrupt doctor tried to spray his toxin at her, but she flipped around, kicking his wrist aside as she did so.

Kestrel pivoted, and kicked Crane in the chest, knocking him off his feet. He landed on his back, wheezing.

Bruce wasted no time in tying the man up, before grabbing Kestrel by the arm, and dragging her out of earshot of the apprehended criminals.

“How did you find me?”

“Trained assassin, remember? I followed you.”

“What were you doing? Getting involved like that?”

“Helping you.” She growled. “And I actually did help! I’m not like those bozos who are tripping over their own feet,  _ and get your hand off my arm _ .”

Still seething, Bruce let go of her. 

“Go back to the Bat-cave, and wait for me.” He growled. Kestrel’s eyes narrowed, but she slunk off.

She was still pissed off when he returned.

“Do not ever follow me like that again!” The Bat snarled. 

Kestrel scowled. “Listen, I owe you my life, not my obedience. And frankly, I have had enough of people telling me what to do.”

“It was dangerous.”

“Like I’ve never been in danger before.” Kestrel snorted.

“You almost died three weeks ago!”

“So? That’s how life for people like me goes!”

“What was to stop them hurting you the same way.”

Kestrel laughed harshly. “The man who stabbed me had the same training as me! Those… those thugs could never have compared.”

Bruce gave her a warning look. 

“I protect my friends, and frankly, you’re the only one I’ve ever had.” Kestrel snapped. “You want to protect this city, fine. But you can’t stop me from helping you.”

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, Kestrel has kind of 'imprinted' on Bruce. She's pretty protective of her new friend.


End file.
